The Rivers baby sellers

THE frequency and magnitude of acts of criminality and other forms of asocial behaviour that have become commonplace in the country should be a matter of grave concern. When Nigerians thought they had seen the worst  that could happen in a dysfunctional society, more serious breaches of the  law  happened repeatedly  to underscore the fact that the society had sunk deeper into the abyss than they could ever imagine. The challenges are indeed legion and diverse. And worse still, they happen virtually simultaneously: mindless killings and maiming, kidnapping for  ransom and/rituals, banditry, official corruption, poor governance, rape, child trafficking as in the instant case, and many more.

At a press conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, a few days ago, the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, Polycarp Emeka, disclosed that six pregnant girls were rescued during a raid at a suspected baby factory in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state. And thanks to citizens who reportedly tipped the police off with  credible information, the command arrested two suspected child traffickers and  rescued six pregnant girls. According to the commissioner,  one Akudo Ozoroh, a 39-year-old suspect, had  confessed to the crime during interrogation, and  another woman who was her accomplice was also arrested.

Without a doubt, societal/family values are collapsing very rapidly with grave implications for orderliness in the society. There are indications that the young girls used as baby factories are often products of broken homes. How could babies be sold like fish in the market? It is not just that the country is reeling in moral breakdown, it is the case that the trend has reached the alarming proportion of the sale of human beings, babies, like fish and goats  in the market. This is terrible. It is indeed a horrible  spectacle that calls into question the humanity of the Nigerian society and the regard that people have for the elevated pedestal of humans among other creatures. The heinous crime portrays the whole society in very bad light as it reflects how low the country has sunk in terms of morality and ethical living. It is really disturbing  that these felons did not just  decide to set up a factory and a market for the sale of babies, but also had many customers to patronize them who were ready to be part of this gross devaluation of human life.

And as if her despicable and criminal enterprise could be rationalised under any guise, the prime suspect, Akudo Ozoroh, had this to say: “I have given out six children in the past. I started the business three years ago. I do not have boys who get the girls pregnant; they were already pregnant when they came. They came to me on their own. I give out the babies only to families who do not have children and not to ritualists. I give them out for between N1.4 and N1.5 million depending on the sex of the baby, while I pay their mothers off depending on the stage of the pregnancy at the time they came.” Apparently, Akudo does not yet appreciate the enormity of  criminality involved in her despicable vocation. Otherwise, she would not have sounded as if it was just another job. And that could be as a result of ignorance and, perhaps and more significantly, the failure of deterrence. If the punishment meted out to convicted child trafficking  offenders had been severe enough, maybe Akudo would not have appeared rather casual while trying to  explain away her heinous and morally reprehensible act. There may be a need to review the sanction grid to ensure that apposite punishment capable of serving the purpose of deterrence is slammed on child traffickers.

All hands must be on deck to rein in this festering crime of child trafficking which seems to be defying every official measure to tackle it. We commend the Rivers State police command for apprehending the culprits and urge it to launch a painstaking inquiry into the activities of the two suspects and unravel the other dramatis personae involved in the hideous crime with a view to bringing all of them to book. We urge the government to show more than a passing interest in this case. It has an urgent duty to stop the society’s descent into the pit of immorality and debasement.  And one way to do that is by ensuring that all those involved in this dastardly trade are punished to the fullest extent of the law to deter other similarly minded persons from this anti-social and atrocious way of life.

 

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